What say ye of Seth Godin? ​Whom say ye that he is?

During Q&A after I spoke for the first time at the The Amaz!ng Meeting (TAM) of the James Randi Educational Foundation, a fellow asked me what I thought of rising marketing icon Seth Godin. The fellow added, “I think he’s full of shit.” I admitted that I hadn’t yet read Godin. Upon my return home, I decided it was high time to become acquainted with him.

It didn’t take long to figure him out, nor to understand his immense popularity. A master of the deepity, he excels at dressing clichés in trendy new clothes to make himself appear profound. Readers who don’t want to think things through are his rightful prey. Ironically, this advocate of delivering value—whatever that means—largely delivers naught but empty, useless, feel-good fluff for marketers. Caveat emptor.

In short, I agree with the fellow at TAM, who said it more succinctly than I just did.

To his credit, Mr. Godin knows his market. His fans get what they deserve, which is no more than they demand.